


Statue in the Square

by ChingKittyCat



Series: PSMD Rewritten [3]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Conversations, During Canon, Gen, Revelations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:53:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28304853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChingKittyCat/pseuds/ChingKittyCat
Summary: Was that there yesterday?
Series: PSMD Rewritten [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2057577
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

It was another day working for the Expedition Society, and it seemed to be just as hot as ever out. The sweltering heat permeated Lively Town, even infecting to the inside of buildings. Partner was eager to stretch their legs and sweat out their worries like they had been for the past while now.

Hero had been so preoccupied with expedition work that nothing else seemed to matter. Ever since joining that week or so ago, the time flew. Every day was a fun new adventure helping folks with their troubles. 

After checking their Connection Orb and accepting any new tasks that appeared, Hero and Partner immediately went for Kangaskhan Cafe. It was a daily ritual at this point to visit the cafe before adventuring— some talkative Pokemon loved to hang out there, which meant a free connection on the orb.

Something in the square caught the two’s eye before they could, though. Partner wordlessly scampered over into the middle of it. There was a small crowd in the middle of the plaza, mumbling to one another.

“Was this statue here yesterday?” Partner wondered. 

Hero cocked their head, trotting over to Partner’s side. In the middle of the plaza, indeed, there was now a statue. It was fantastically made, perfectly realistic, and a life-sized one at that. The only odd thing about it was the lack of pedestal or anything for it to stand upon, like statues should have.

“Maybe it’s an art exhibit?” Partner’s face brightened up.

They pushed the townsfolk out of the way to examine all the way around the skillful art piece, touching and poking at it where they wanted to.

“It’s pure rock! And it’s all smooth! I wonder how long it took to make?” Partner rounded back to Hero. “Here, touch it! It’s really smooth!”

Hero did as Partner requested, feeling the smooth stone of the statue. It was almost like marble. The uncanny disassociation between the grey rock and its texture had Hero astonished. The anonymous artist who made it must’ve been extremely skilled— as if the exquisite artistry of the anatomy wasn’t enough.

“Has anyone found the Mayor?” Doduo, a resident who was frequently running around town, asked with a nervous leg bounce.

“No, no sign of them at all.” Miltank said. “I went by his home to deliver some milk, but when I knocked on the door, he wasn’t there. He always greets me whenever I do my deliveries, so…”

“I think the Sheriff is looking into it.” Kricketot didn’t sound very confident. 

“The Mayor?” Partner tilted their head.

Hero hadn’t heard of the Mayor before, but considering how big this town was, it was only natural to have one, wasn’t it? Hero got the attention of the townsfolk by parroting Partner, asking to know more about who this enigmatic figure was.

“Well, the mayor, they’re really nice. They really turned this town around ever since…” Kricketot gestured vaguely. “Everything that happened.” 

“What happened?” Partner pressed.

“It’s nothing you kids need to know about.” Miltank shook her head. “The town fell on hard times because the old mayor wasn’t doing their job, and the new one fixed it up. It went from a ghost town to Lively Town.” 

Miltank amused herself with the play on words, but Hero was already having suspicions. If the Mayor was missing, where could they be? Perhaps they were stuck in a dungeon close to town, in need of rescue? 

Hero quickly told Partner of their theory that if the Mayor was stuck in a dungeon, the closest one was Gentle Slope Cave.

“That’s a good idea, Hero.” Partner nodded, puffing up their chest as they addressed the citizens. “Hero and I are from the Expedition Society! If anyone is able to find the Mayor, it’d be us! Just leave it to the professionals!”

The group of denizens all looked unconvinced, murmuring to each other.

“The Sheriff is already on it, you don’t have to worry about it.” Doduo paced.

“Oh.” Partner deflated.

Hero thought they might as well just leave the Sheriff, whoever they were, to it. Maybe they were also a Magnezone, much like the Sheriff in Serene Village? Hopefully they’d get a chance to meet them.

“Well! Guess we’ll go get to work!” Partner quickly got their smile back on. “There’s plenty to do in the mean time! Seeya!”

While Partner headed for the Cafe, Hero took one last look at the statue. Then, they joined their friend for another day of great, stressless fun.

* * *

A whole six new Pokemon connected in the orb after yesterday! They were making great progress, in Hero’s opinion. They retrieved the Connection Orb from the Nexus and skipped down the stairs after Partner.

The heat from outside wafted into the bottom floor of the Society in thick waves, much like they did yesterday. Hero felt the sun’s gaze on their back as soon as they stepped out, and on their soles too. It was so hot that it was cooking the pavement!

After hyping both of themselves up, Hero and Partner dashed across the road, hopping into shadows where they could. They made it into a game, and whoever didn’t play the best was going to be scorched by the end.

Once they were at the cafe again, hiding in the shade of the doorframe, Partner looked out towards the statue still in the middle of town. 

“Sure is a hot one today, huh? Want some MooMoo milk?” Miltank had noticed the kids playing hot-hopscotch, apparently.

“Oooh, yes please!” 

Partner eagerly snatched a bottle from Miltank’s hooves, gulping it down. Hero was a little more polite, paying the milkwoman after taking a bottle for themselves.

Partner chugged the milk, leaving a cute little milk mustache above their mouth as they finished it off with a satisfied ‘aah’. They handed the leftover glass back to Miltank who put it into her basket of returned bottles.

“Anything happen with the Mayor?” Partner asked.

“No,” Miltank shook her head, “well, actually, sort of… They apparently didn’t come home last night. Neither did the Sheriff…”

“Where did the Sheriff go?” Partner sounded determined to get to the bottom of it now.

“The Sheriff went to Sunbathed Garden. Apparently it was one of the Mayor’s favorite spots before it turned into a Mystery Dungeon.”

“Wait, turned into? What do you mean?” Partner cocked a brow.

“Oh, it happened years ago. Probably before you two were even born. Mystery Dungeons weren’t commonplace on the planet, but they started spreading. Some places would turn into one, or have one inside of them. Like forests and lakes, or ocean ravines and caves. I don’t think they’ve been popping up much anymore. No new ones, I mean! And thank goodness for that, it’s hard enough getting anywhere already.”

“I wonder what made it happen?” 

Partner looked to Hero for answers, but Hero was busying themselves with sipping milk. Also, like, Hero’s an amnesiac. What did Partner expect from them?

“No one’s right sure, kid.” Miltank shrugged.

Hero finished off their bottle, handing it back to Miltank.

“Well, thanks for the information!” Partner dipped their head to Miltank, then quickly brought it back up to address Hero. “We’re headed to Sunbathed Garden!”

Miltank made a noise of astonishment, but before she could say anything more, the two friends were off to go get their items together and rush out the town gate.

* * *

Sunbathed Garden was a real cakewalk. It was a dungeon full of grass types with some fire types sprinkled in, but no matter the typing of the dungeon they went to, it didn’t matter. They forged through, relying on one another to have each other's backs.

Which is why they made it all the way to the end of the dungeon, coming out to the other side into a beautiful clearing full of tended-to berries, trees, and flowers. Partner said something or other about sampling some of the berries growing around, so they chowed down on a few while Hero investigated.

It didn’t take long before they found.. Something.

It was another statue. A Magnezone, grounded. It was hidden behind one of the bushes, but it was still there. It was unlike the statue they’d seen in the town. This one had a clear expression of shock and horror, the previous one a distinct placid calm.

Partner sauntered over and almost jolted back from the statue’s disturbing expression.

“Another statue? A Magnezone, too…” Partner shivered. “It looks just like Sheriff Magnezone from Serene Village. Like, frozen in a block of rock!” 

Partner looked around, then back to the statue.

“Well, there’s no Sheriff here… Just a statue. But what is a statue doing all the way out here?”

Hero had to agree. For a statue to be all the way out here, at the end of a dungeon, _specifically_ one that the Sheriff was supposed to be at.. It’s just too weird. This statue is too realistic.

Hero brought it up to Partner.

“What!?” Partner spat. “No, there’s no way! There’s no Pokemon in the entire world that can turn others to stone!”

Hero did think it was a little ridiculous, but they calmly explained to Partner that if humans exist, that if Legendaries exist, then what’s a little improbability? Maybe there really was a Pokemon out there turning things to stone.

And worse yet, it’s doing it to the residents of Lively Town— to people who can hardly defend themselves. Sure, the Sheriff was probably more than capable, but that’s what made this all the more startling.

What about people like Doduo? Like Miltank? Like Keckleon? Hero doubted they were all as strong as a Magnezone.

“We need to get to the bottom of this.” Partner stamped their foot.

There was always a logical explanation to everything that happened. The ghosts that’d been haunting the school in Serene Village? Just a bunch of Litwick and a Solosis looking for a meal. If that had a logical and normal explanation, then this did too.

“I agree, Hero. I bet this is one big prank, or some scheme.” Partner nodded. “It’s nothing we can’t figure out. Where should we start looking, though?”

Hero told Partner that it was a good idea to start by telling the Society and seeing if anyone there knew anything. Plus, it’d make good conversation. Hero’d felt a little overshadowed by the other guild members. They were all much bigger and more accomplished, anything other than shallow smalltalk seemed wholly irrelevant and a waste of their time. 

With this discovery, they’d have something to talk about.

“What do we do about _this_ Sheriff Magnezone? I guess just leave him here?” Partner wondered.

Hero watched as Partner pushed and shoved on the statue with all their might, but they simply could not get it to budge an inch.

“It’s too heavy… I guess we couldn’t take him back with us even if we wanted to!” Partner laughed after they panted. “Oh, wait, duh, couldn’t we use our badges on him?”

Partner pulled out their Society badge, pushing it against Magnezone’s stone cold surface. With their other rescues, the badges would light up, but here… It stayed normal. Partner frowned a bit.

“Yeah, he’s staying here. I guess we could have someone else help us haul him back at a later point.” 

Partner sighed. Hero heard the wind overhead whistle softly, and almost jumped because they thought they were about to be blown out of the dungeon. But they’re not in the dungeon anymore. It’s just… A garden.

“I can see why the mayor liked to come here. It’s pretty peaceful. I can’t imagine having to go through a dungeon every time you wanted to go somewhere nice like this.”

Hero ruminated on Partner’s words. If Partner had to walk through a Mystery Dungeon every time they wanted to go to the tree at the top of the hill in Serene Village… Well, they would’ve been a lot stronger than they were when Hero first met them, that’s for sure.

“What Miltank said about Mystery Dungeons, Hero, do you think it’s true? That they just randomly started popping up in wild areas?”

Hero hesitantly nodded their head. Partner hummed.

“I dunno. I’ll ask someone else about it, because my Pops never told me anything about it. Well, I think we should get back to town to tell someone about this. Lets go!”

Partner dashed off, and as usual, Hero followed.

* * *

“The Sheriff has been turned ta’ stone!?” Buizel shouted. 

“Keep your voice down, you’ll wake the neighbors up!” Bunnelby scolded.

Hero and Partner had decidedly kept the issue from the rest of the Society until after dinner, and now that everyone was stuffed, they were also ready and willing to talk. Ampharos shushed the table, who’d decided to start talking all at once.

“Thank you for bringing this up to us, Hero, Partner.” Ampharos leaned back in his chair. “The Society has known about Pokemon turning to stone since they began.”

“S-Since they began?” Partner parroted. “What do you mean? This has been going on for a while?”

“Yes. It’s been a couple months now, but… Across the globe, Pokemon have been turning to stone with no explanation as to how. But we do know one thing; there’s a pattern.” 

Mawile decided to pick up where Ampharos left off.

“The ‘Big Boss of the Northern Seas’, a Pokemon named Wailord, was one of the first Pokemon to turn to stone.” She kept her gaze even, but Hero could see a cold apathy in her eyes. “He was a powerful influence on the northern hemisphere’s oceans, and very well respected. Then, others started dropping after him. A leader here, a boss there, Pokemon of repute have been turning to stone.”

“Pokemon turning to stone…” Archen mumbled. “I can only wonder how scary that is to have happen to you.”

“Good thing it’ll never be happenin’ to ya.” Buizel smirked and Archen whacked him with his wing.

Bunnelby thumped his foot on the ground, getting everyone’s attention. Hero saw fear in his eyes as he sputtered.

“W-Wait, what about the Ruler of Rock? What about her? Is she okay?” He’d questioned so quickly that Hero almost didn’t catch what he said.

“Rhyperior, she’s…” Mawile trailed off tellingly.

Bunnelby stared at her wide-eyed. A large tremor shot through him as he stood there. Buizel and Archen looked at him, inquisitive but dreadful.

Bunnelby didn’t say a word. He jumped over the dinner table and ran from the room. 

“Bunnelby-”

“Don’t. He needs ‘ta be alone.” Buizel pulled Archen back to keep him from following.

Hero didn’t know who the ‘Ruler of Rock’ was to Bunnelby, but to ellicit that sort of reaction.. Hero tried to relate it to themselves. To react like that… It’d be like if one of the kids from the school got turned to stone. Or Nuzleaf. Or… No, not Partner. If Partner got turned to stone, Hero didn’t know what they’d do. It’d be more than that.

Mawile continued after a long bout of tense and emotional silence.

“I’m sure you all know whoever is turning Pokemon to stone came to our town recently. Our Mayor is out in the Plaza for everyone to see. While our Mayor may have not been the most influential Pokemon there is, the fact that they are now a statue still stands. The thing doing this is targeting leaders, hoping followers will fall into chaos.”

“We still don’ know why they’re doin’ that. It ain’t matter, I say. So long as we find ‘em and put a stop ta’ it.” Buizel snorted.

“Wait, wait!” Partner cried out. “That statue in the square, it’s-”

“Yes.” Mawile confirmed.

Partner had still apparently hoped that wasn’t the case, despite the clear evidence. 

“What’s worse,” Mawile grumbled, “in my opinion, is the fact that they’d gotten turned to stone in town. They-”

“What do you mean?” It was Partner’s turn to interrupt, now.

“I was getting to that.” Mawile scoffed. “When a Pokemon gets turned to stone, their statue cannot be moved. No matter how strong the Pokemon moving the statue is, it will always be too heavy to move. Even if it were a small statue.”

Hero felt a bit better knowing that Sheriff Magnezone was absolutely immobile regardless of the fact if they brought a huge dragon type along with them or not. A little less guilt there. Dread everywhere else, though.

“What do.. What do we do?” Partner withdrew.

“We act like there’s no problem. We’re already looking into the issue alongside other groups across the planet.” Mawile said, simply.

“But if ‘mons don’t know what’s wrong-”

“Then they won’t freak out or begin thinking their neighbors are out to turn them into a rock. The less they know, the better.”

Hero didn’t see the logic in Mawile’s argument. It was already a public issue, it was impossible to stay private. If all these ‘political’ figures were going missing and having their secretaries fill in, it couldn’t just stay hush-hush. They needed the help of others!

“No.” Mawile hissed to Hero. “When innocent ‘mon get involved, they freak out. They cause chaos, they don’t know how to act in the face of a crisis. Our Society, or guilds, or teams, or whatever else, **we** know how to act in the face of danger. They do not need to know there’s a danger, or else every time someone passes by that statue in the square, they’ll think they’re going to be next.”

Partner looked like they were going to say something, but Mawile’s ferociousness kept them quiet. Hero knew she knew more. Partner pouted.

“This is _not_ going to spiral out of control. I’ll get to the bottom of this.” Mawile got up out of her chair and headed for the door.

“Mawile, hey…” Ampharos watched her go.

There was an awkward silence as they waited for her to round the corner and out of earshot.

“She just cares an awful lot, don’t let the feistiness get to ya.” Buizel kicked up his paws. “It’s her way of showin’ it, is all.”

“How do we help Pokemon stop turning into stone?”

Partner leaned forward on the table, looking Ampharos dead in the eyes. Ampharos was taken with the strength of Partner’s sudden command.

“Mawile has been scouring through old history things for any previous records of Pokemon turning to stone,” Archen answered, “but it’s not been turning up much. Neither has any search for a ‘cure’ to being un-stoned. Un-statued? You get what I mean.” 

“The best you can do for now is to continue work on the Nexus. I fear that in the near future, we’ll be needing it more than ever.” Ampharos said grimly.

Hero looked down at the gadget which held the communication orb. It glowed faintly with light, with the ‘mons they’d met on it. Their friends.

So long as they had something like this, to talk to people, to know what to do, they’d be fine. The Society would be fine. That’s what they thought Ampharos was getting at. If what this world had for ‘governance’ was to collapse, this would be their savior.

Hero clutched it.


	2. Chapter 2

After another successful mission, helping folks out of dungeons, Hero and Partner cheerfully chatted each other up while meandering back to the Society headquarters. They’d both dutifully and quietly paid no mind to the art exhibit in the middle of town as they’d deposited their dungeon-gotten gains in the town’s Deposit Box.

They trotted up the hill, still more than happy to enjoy eachother’s company. As they finally reached the top, Hero was overcome with a sudden jolt of surprise joy. Nuzleaf was outside, talking to Jirachi!

“Hey there, kiddo. Fancy seeing you round these parts, huh?” Nuzleaf smiled as Hero went in for a nice little hug. 

“Mr. Nuzleaf!” Partner followed Hero and got a hug out of him too. “What’re you doing here?”

“Oh, I just figured I should check up on you two, make sure you got to Lively Town all in one piece. Plus, I reckon it’s been a while since I’ve even been here anyhow.” Nuzleaf stretched. “I can’t keep myself in one place for too long.”

Hero remembered the days of Nuzleaf’s absence, where they had to cook dinner for themselves. Nuzleaf didn’t really specify what he was doing, but whenever he returned he always had some new, exotic berry to share with them when they got to eat together.

Must’ve been some exploring.

“When’d that statue in the plaza get set up? It looks mighty expensive.” Nuzleaf looked to Partner for some answers. 

Partner froze up. Hero winced. Jirachi was clearly about to interject, but the unease had already been shown to Nuzleaf.

“What’s wrong?” He wondered.

“Oh, it’s nothing!” Partner waved their arms around like they were trying to show ‘oh no, don’t worry, haha’. “The person who made the uh, the statue… We just have a bad relationship with them is all.”

Hero blinked at Partner. 

“Darn, sorry to hear. I’ve heard that the more talented artists are, the worse ‘a person they are. Not that I know any truth to that. Ain’t ever been in any art circles, just had it told to me by some old friends.” Nuzleaf shrugged.

Jirachi chuckled half-heartedly at the comment. “Did a Smeargle tell you that? You know how they can be.”

“I do remember it bein’ a Smeargle, yeah.” Nuzleaf’s smile was back.

“Mr. Nuzleaf,” Partner interjected, “how long are you going to be in town?”

“Just for today, I’d say. I needed somethin’ from this town’s Keckleon, and to put down another order for six month’s worth of milk from Miltank.”

“Well, it was nice to see you.” Jirachi smiled. “Hero and Partner are both very good kids. They work hard, and we make sure they’re safe at the end of the day.”

“And well fed too, I hope.” 

“Very.” Jirachi nodded.

“I’ll be lookin’ round town before heading home. Anythin’ you want me to say to the village kids?” Nuzleaf looked to Hero. Hero shook their head, pointing to Partner.

Partner then went off on describing what they wanted to say to every single kid in the village. Even to ones like Budew, who they didn’t even know very well. 

To Espurr, they talked about how much Espurr would love talking to Dedenne. How Dedenne reminded them a lot of her, mostly in the passion for communication technologies. To Pancham and Shelmet, Partner’d wanted to tell them all of the explorations they went on, and how many outlaws they’d fought. Those two always had a keen interest in criminal-catching. To Deerling, Partner wanted to tell her all about the mystique of Mawile, how she was so elegant yet educated, much like how Deerling was. To Goomy, Partner described the beauty of the town, and how even the smallest and meekest Pokemon had a place amongst the societal ecosystem. To the few smaller ‘mons, Partner’s forwarded message was about the beauty of the dungeons and the feeling of being responsible and able to do anything they dared to dream of. 

“I’ll try to keep that all in my head. Hope ya don’t mind if I paraphrase a little bit.” Nuzleaf looked overwhelmed yet charmed by the show of compassion. 

“Thank you, Mr. Nuzleaf!” Partner chirped.

Hero thought about the statue.

“Make sure you stay safe on your way home.” Jirachi bowed his head and ducked back into the Society’s HQ.

“Yeah, Mr. Nuzleaf. There’s a lot of rough Pokemon out there nowadays, so… Stay safe!” 

“Y’ain’t gotta worry ‘bout me. I got a lot of history with some tough ‘mon.” Nuzleaf beamed. “The world’s a whole lot safer than it used to be, anyhow. Whole lot less burly criminals about than there was before you were born.”

“But-”

“But I’ll be takin’ care, don’t you worry.” Partner received a head pat from Nuzleaf. “I’m off for now. Though I’ll be at the cafe for a bit before I leave.”

“Alright, thanks for the visit, Mr. Nuzleaf.” Partner waved as Nuzleaf similarly waved goodbye to the pair.

When he was out of eyeshot, Partner pouted, then walked back into the Society’s HQ, Hero quietly following, still.


End file.
